The US Congress has handed Barack Obama an embarrassing defeat by overturning his veto of legislation designed to allow 9/11 families to sue the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The President had urged members of Congress to abandon the legislation, saying it creates a precedent for the US government to face similar lawsuits on the international stage.
But pressure from the 9/11 families saw Congress over-ride the President's veto as our US Correspondent Simon Marks reports.
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The vote, when it came, wasn't even close.
By 97 to 1, the Senate chose to override Barack Obama's veto…..and support 9/11 families and their right to sue Saudi Arabia.
In the House of Representatives, the President didn't fare much better…the veto's over-ride there approved by 348 votes to 77.
A double-hammer blow, then, for the Obama administration…the first time Congress has over-ridden this President's veto.
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At the State Department, spokesman John Kirby lamented the decision….and repeated President Obama's contention that it puts American diplomats, citizens and US interests at global risk.
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But the 9/11 families have long argued that the White House is wrong…..and that they should have a day in court to try and prove Saudi complicity with the hijackers who carried out the September 11th attacks.
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Terry Strader lost her husband on September 11th 2001 in the attack on the World Trade Center.
She's led the family group campaigning for the right to sue.
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Rather, she says, the Obama administration has been trying to halt legal action that could lead to fresh diplomatic tensions between Washington and its traditional Saudi allies.
Republican Congressman Peter King from New York was one of those voting against the President's veto.
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And even loyal friends like Senator Charles Shumer, a prominent Democrat, also abandoned the White House.
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Cannot forget it, perhaps because in November so many members of Congress will be up for re-election themselves.
The families had piled pressure on lawmakers and their cause is popular with the public.
With the sands of time running out for President Obama, many members of Congress prioritized their own political skins over the White House, or its relationship with Saudi Arabia.
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